Learn how to ask for a day off
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to RussianPod101.com This is Business Russian for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 16 - Asking For Time Off Work. John Here. |
| Karina: Привет, I'm Karina. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask for a day off. The conversation takes place on the phone. |
| Karina: It's between Linda and Alexander. |
| John: The speakers are boss and employee, therefore, they will speak both formal and informal Russian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Линда: Александр, извините, что звоню так рано... |
| Александр: Здравствуй, Линда. Что случилось? |
| Линда: Я плохо себя чувствую сегодня, можно мне взять выходной? |
| Александр: Конечно, не беспокойся. Если нужно, сходи к врачу. |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Линда: Александр, извините, что звоню так рано... |
| Александр: Здравствуй, Линда. Что случилось? |
| Линда: Я плохо себя чувствую сегодня, можно мне взять выходной? |
| Александр: Конечно, не беспокойся. Если нужно, сходи к врачу. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Linda: Alexander, sorry to call so early... |
| Alexander: Hello Linda. What happened? |
| Linda: Today I don't feel very good, can I take a day off? |
| Alexander: Sure, don't worry. If you need to, go to the doctor. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: Alexander was very understanding there. |
| Karina: Yeah, he was. That’s good though. The last thing you need when you feel sick is a grilling from your boss. |
| John: Right. What are the rules like regarding sick leave in Russia? |
| Karina: Sick leave differs from company to company. |
| John: How about other types of leave? Like paid leave? |
| Karina: That depends on both the company and region. |
| John: Region? Can you elaborate on that a little? |
| Karina: The regular length for paid leave is 28 days, but in the Northern Regions it’s a little longer. |
| John: And there is one other type of major leave that people might need in their lives - maternity leave. |
| Karina: In Russia, maternity leave is 140 to 180 days long, depending on the number of children. |
| John: Is there any more leave available after that? |
| Karina: One parent can take "parental leave" until the baby turns 18 months, for 40% pay, and then unpaid leave until the child turns 3. We call maternity leave, декретный отпуск |
| John: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Karina: случаться [natural native speed] |
| John: to happen |
| Karina: случаться [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Karina: случаться [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Karina: чувствовать [natural native speed] |
| John: feel |
| Karina: чувствовать[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Karina: чувствовать [natural native speed] |
| John: And last... |
| Karina: врач [natural native speed] |
| John: doctor |
| Karina: врач [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Karina: врач [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is... |
| Karina: извините, что звоню так рано |
| John: meaning "Sorry to call so early." What can you tell us about this phrase? |
| Karina: The formula for this phrase is: “sorry,” plus “that,” plus “call,” plus “so,” and finally “early.” |
| John: So there’s no personal pronoun in there? |
| Karina: No. This is a handy pattern. You can say “sorry that,” followed by a verb in first person singular in many other phrases too. |
| John: Like what other phrases? |
| Karina: For example, “sorry to disturb” - извините, что отвлекаю |
| John: Can you give us an example using this expression? |
| Karina: Sure. For example, you can say, Извините, что не смогу участвовать в семинаре. |
| John: ...which means "Sorry that I won't be able to take part in seminar." |
| John: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Karina: Что случилось? |
| John: meaning "What happened?" What can you tell us about this phrase? |
| Karina: First is the question word “what,” followed by a verb in past simple tense. |
| John: And in this case, the verb is…? |
| Karina: случилось with the postfix сь. This is usually used for passive forms. |
| John: But this isn’t passive? |
| Karina: No, случилось can't be used without this suffix as it already means "to happen (by itself)." |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Karina: Sure. For example, you can say, Что случилось с этим сканером? |
| John: ...which means "What happened to this scanner?" |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn about asking for a day off. If you need an unexpected day off due to illness or an emergency, you’ll need to call your supervisor and explain the situation. |
| Karina: Like Linda did in the dialogue. |
| John: Remind us Karina, what did Linda say in the dialogue? |
| Karina: Я плохо себя чувствую сегодня |
| John: Literally this is “Today I feel myself bad.” Is there any part of this in particular that we should pay attention to? |
| Karina: Yes, in the middle of the sentence. The verbal phrase себя чувствую. |
| John: Okay, what can you tell us about it? |
| Karina: себя is a reflexive pronoun. It shows that an action being performed is directed onto the person who performs this action |
| John: Can this only be used for the first person? |
| Karina: Actually no. It can be used for the second or third person - it has no gender or number. |
| John: Wow, that’s really handy and easy to remember. If we need to be a little more specific about why we feel bad, what could we say? |
| Karina: Maybe Я простыл. |
| John: “I have a cold.” |
| Karina: Or У меня высокая температура. |
| John: “I have a high temperature.” Now that we’ve explained that we’re ill and can’t come in, we need to actually ask for the day off. |
| Karina: If you’re not that deathly sick, you might want to say something like Можно мне поработать из дома? |
| John: “Can I work from home?” |
| Karina: That sentence uses можно мне, which means “can me.” This is more polite than могу я, “can I.” |
| John: Thanks for pointing that out! |
| Karina: You could also say Можно мне прийти после обеда? |
| John: “Can I come in for the second part of the day?” |
| Karina: They both sound better than asking for the whole day off, don’t they? |
| John: If you’re well enough for those options, ask, and I’m sure your boss will be happy to accommodate you. |
Outro |
| John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening everyone and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Karina: Пока! |
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